Fatigue delamination experiments on GFRP and CFRP specimens under single and mixed fracture modes

This paper deals with the experimental analysis of the delamination phenomena in composite materials under different loading conditions. Quasi-static and fatigue tests are performed on specimens made of glass-fibre (GFRP) and carbon-fibre (CFRP) reinforced plastic. In particular, experiments have been carried out under single fracture modes I and II (using standard DCB and ENF test configurations) and mixed modes I+II (using the MMB test configuration) with several mode mixtures. Results obtained for the two materials have been compared paying attention on the relationship between the parameters that describe the fatigue behaviour and the mode mixture acting during the crack propagation. © 2011 Published by Elsevier Ltd.